Promise
by scarletlions
Summary: Two months after the defeat of the D-Reaper, Takato finds the portal leading them to the Digital World. Will they be able to reunite with their partners?
1. The Promise

He could hardly sleep that night. He went to bed early, hoping to sleep, and instead found himself pressing his eyelids shut, pretending he was tired. However, the opposite was true; he hadn't felt this awake and alive in weeks. With his eyes still closed he began hoping and praying for his exhaustion to catch up and wash over him. But all he could think about was that promise.

Two months. The last time Takato had seen his partner and best friend was two months ago. Just thinking about that time period made him shudder. He still had nightmares about it; the red mass, the agents, the kernel and prison of Jeri, taller than most buildings. Whenever he started to feel overwhelmed, he concentrated on his final biomerge with Guilmon. Gallantmon Crimson Mode, made possible by Grani, was his ultimate defiance against the D-Reaper. He and Guilmon were one...which brought him back to his promise.

A promise he can finally, hopefully, keep.

Not everybody was as optimistic, however. Rika, of course, presented a lot of counter arguments, but she did sounded excited. Even Jeri said she wanted to go, to help find Calumon. Henry was confused as to how a portal opened at all, and Takato had to wonder himself; however, he decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth. He could see Guilmon. He had to take this chance. He felt that the portal would stay open as long as they needed, but that didn't stop him from wanting to hurry. They had no plan, no way back, and no permission, but tomorrow they were going to the digital world.

He rolled onto his side to check the digital clock on his nightstand. The green, luminescent numbers indicated that it was only 2:15 in the morning, but his attention was immediately drawn to the object adjacent. He could barely reach it with the tips of his fingers, but he grabbed hold eventually.

He smiled to himself and attempted to sit up in his bed. His fingers brushed over the goggles, his tamer's symbol. He remembered the first day he wore them, after Guilmon hatched from his digi-egg. His grip tightened around the goggles in order to control the flood of his emotions.

"Hold on buddy...just a little bit longer," he whispered to himself. He slowly put the goggles on his head for the first time in months, and instantly he felt ready for bed.

"Just a little bit longer, Guilmon," Takato whispered as he lost consciousness. "I promise."

After all the effort to fall asleep, Takato struggled now to wake up. He could hear his alarm beeping, distantly, calling to him. He knew he had something important to do. But his dream world had him trapped. At first, all he could see was darkness, but then he looked harder. Colors were flying around at high speeds, unstoppably fast. He could feel something on his wrists, tying him down. And then he realized he couldn't breathe. He didn't think he was underwater, and he could barely move to check. He heard a voice, soft, feminine, and familiar, calling his name, and he bolted upright in his bed, sweating and breathing heavily.

He took a second to compose himself, before the ringing of the alarm became too much. After he turned it off, he stood up, and threw on his classic blue shirt and grabbed his digivice and modify card deck.

He walked downstairs into the bakery store run by his parents. He opened the fridge and started packing food for the trip. He opened the bread drawer and found nothing where he expected to find, well...bread.

"Looking for this?" Takato winced and slowly turned to face his parents standing in the doorway, holding a bag full of bread.

"Uhm..." Takato started, nervously. He had been upset with himself for not telling his parents about leaving, but after the events with the D-Reaper, he figured it would be easier to ask forgiveness than permission.

"It's okay, son," his dad said. "Yamaki informed us that there was a possible digital portal open, and we knew right away you'd be going."

"And...you're okay with it?" he asked, only half surprised.

"Well, not really," his mother replied, with a slight smile etched on her face. "But we know you'd go anyway. Plus, even we miss Guilmon." She gave her son a hug. "Bring him back, alright? Then we can all be together again."

Takato smiled. His parents recognized that Guilmon was a part of their family. He hugged both his parents, holding back a few tears, and together, they packed for his journey. He slipped into his shoes, and headed out the door. When he reached the top of his hill, he turned towards his house. In the light of the barely risen sun, he could just make out his parents waving to him. He waved a final goodbye, and walked determinedly towards the park.

He didn't want to run, but his pace hastened with every step. The warm breeze made the world seem comfortable, and the clear sky foretold days of joy, but the only thing he could think about was getting to his destination. He hoped he was the last one there; that way, they could just leave. His stomach felt almost queasy, but he wasn't sure why he was nervous.

_Not nervous_, he thought. _Anxious. To see my best friend._

As he entered the park, he couldn't help but reminisce about the adventures he and all his friends shared. A ton of them had started in this very park. He laughed as he recalled pushing Guilmon in a shopping cart. That was a blast...and then there was an actual blast, caused by Henry, Gargomon, Rika, and Kyuubimon battling against the snake deva in the subway.

With the shed that served as Guilmon's hide out getting closer, he felt his anxiety heighten.

"Hey, gogglehead," a friendly voice call. He turned to see RIka, Henry, Suzie, Jeri, and Kenta standing just outside the shed. "Took you long enough!"

"As if I was the one you were all waiting for?" he replied, smiling. "Where's Kazu?"

"Where do you think," Kenta said, Henry laughing. "If he could just hurry, then we could leave!"

"Actually," Rika said, eyes on her phone. "We can't leave without Ryo." Everybody looked at her, and she slowly turned red. "What?" Her voice sent out a challenge, begging them to comment. Takato, not dumb enough to poke Rika's buttons, simply turned and laughed. But Ryo's and Kazu's absences bothered him. What was the hold up?

He heard footsteps, and excitedly looked to his left. He didn't see anybody. Instead, the bush began shaking. Takato suddenly became worried. Ryo and Kazu were not "enter through a bush" kind of people.

Just as he was about to call everybody's attention, two small children walked out of the bush, holding a single, purple digivice.

"Ai?" he said in surprise. "Mako?" Everybody else's heads snapped in their direction.

"Hi!" Mako said, smiling. "We were scared we'd have to go alone, but the big kids are here!"

"Where are you going?" Rika said, gently, worry seeping into her voice.

"To find Impmon," Ai said, putting the digivice back around her neck. "The digivice told us to come here. Please don't call our parents!"

"Of course not," Takato promised, earning himself a scoff and reprimanding look from Rika. Henry walked over to the young tamers.

"How old are you guys?" he asked, trying to sound genuinely curious, but his eyes glowed with concern.

"Five, since today!" they both said, showing a hand with all five fingers extended. Henry was quiet for a moment, staring at his own sister. Then he sighed.

"Well, we can't say no to the birthday twins, can we?" he said with a shrug. The two kids rejoiced as Henry continued. "You're tamers, so you deserve to come and find your partner. Just stay close and be careful."

As the two kids promised profusely, Rika sighed loudly and began pacing, hands moving absent mindedly across her digivice and cell phone. She kicked a small stone and watched it fall down the concrete steps, listening to the clatter of each drop.

"Those two are on their way to being as stubborn as Ryo," she whispered, shaking her head.

"Heard my name?" a voice said from behind them, startling both Takato and Rika. Rika rolled her eyes.

"Ryo!" Jeri said, her voice cheerful. Takato couldn't stop himself from genuinely smiling. "And Kazu!"

"You big dorks, what took so long!" Rika shouted, giving both boys a punch in the arm.

"Ah, hey!" Kazu screamed, while Ryo said "Took a detour when I saw Kazu trip and fall on his face." Kazu's mouth gaped open, and everybody laughed.

"All right, Tamers!" Takato shouted. "On this day, we march to reunite with lost friends. Move out!"

Single-filed, the Tamers walked into the shed and slid down the path dug long ago by Guilmon. Takato brought up the rear. As Henry helped Suzie down the hold, he turned to face the sun again.

"You ready?" Henry asked, putting his hand on Takato's shoulder. Takato nodded. He walked in and saw the Tamer's flag he had left there. He stared at the pictures of his friends for a moment, before picking it up and standing at the mouth of the pathway.

_I'm on my way, Guilmon. I promise._


	2. The First Encounter

Ready for the drop from the portal into the digital world this time, Takato held tight to the backpack of food, which was tied to his body. The desert on the first layer of the digital world was a surprise for Takato yet again. The tumbleweed-like sacs of dead data blew passed them as Takato stood up, patting the dirt off his clothes.

"Is everybody okay?" he asked, turning towards his friends. Henry was helping Suzie up, and Rika had gone over to assist Ai and Mako.

"I'm fine," Ryo said, giving his hand to Kazu to help him onto his feet. Kenta scrambled upright, picking up his glasses and shoving them back on his nose. Suzie, Ai, and Mako were all smiling, though Ai and Mako were definitely confused about their surroundings. However, the person he was truly concerned for was Jeri. The last time she was in the digital world, she had been suffering from depression. Now, she just stared off at the rocks.

"Hey," Takato asked, walking up to her. "You alright?"

"Absolutely!" she said with a grin. "I'm ready to find our friends, and to properly thank them for saving me. Especially Calumon." She smiled at Takato, and he smiled back. He resolved to keep an eye out but he was confident Jeri was over it.

He started scanning the surroundings for himself now. They were in a flat stretch of land, with dust and sand in every direction. Looking up, the sphere that represented the real world floated above them. He could see some data streams in the distance.

"Anybody have any idea what direction we should go in?" Rika asked. "I mean, seriously, we came here with no plan and completely forgot how big the digital world is!" Nobody answered for a few minutes. Mostly because nobody wanted to admit Rika was right.

"I've been thinking," Henry said slowly, as though still trying to piece together the words to recount his theory. "I think we should try to get to the land of the digimon sovereign." Everybody in the group stared wordlessly at him.

"Okay...why?" Kenta asked, his eyebrows raised.

"Think about it! It makes sense that they might go there because of the help we did for the sovereign," Henry explained. "Maybe they'd feel safer there because Azulongmon was friendly."

"Safe?!" Kazu screamed. "Isn't that the exact place where a giant red bird tried to light us on fire?!" Even the littler kids seemed hushed by Kazu's comment. Takato knew it was better than nothing, however.

"Look...it's the only lead we've got, right?" he said. Henry shrugged and Ryo nodded. "Then I say we just go for it. We need to move from here, anyway."

The large group set off in their quest to find their friends. Takato watched as Kazu took the lead, and looked at the surrounding desert. There was no sign of life, no sign that pointed them towards the destination they sought. He hoped the digimon sovereign, specifically Azulongmon, would sense their presence and come to collect them. However, as they walked on, it became less and less likely.

He had to admit, Henry's idea made sense. No place in the digital world was especially safe, but perhaps the digimon would accept the protection of the sovereign. Not one to be overly cocky, but Takato knew that the sovereign, and the entire digital world, owed Guilmon and the others a debt.

Suddenly, he remembered that he was traveling with five year olds, and that they had been walking in complete silence for quite some time. He turned to offer his assistance, but he found that his services were unneeded. Henry was giving Suzie a ride on his back, and Ai and Mako were being helped by Rika and Ryo.

The group traveled in silence still for a long time. The amount of sand piling inside Takato's shoes was getting out of hand. He almost resorted to using his goggles to protect his eyes, but stopped himself and squinted instead. A few feet ahead, he saw Jeri stumble and fall to the ground. He ran up to her and offered her his hand. She took it graciously, still smiling.

"Alright, does anybody actually have _any_ idea where we're going?" Rika shouted, Ai still propped up on her back. Everybody, including Ryo and Mako, the latter of whom had been laughing at something Ryo said, stopped moving and turned towards the front of the group.

"Nope," Kazu said, while Kenta muttered "not a clue."

"What do you mean?!" Rika exclaimed. "If you didn't know where to go, why did you take the lead, doofus?" The littler kids began chuckling.

"Well somebody had to!" Kazu said in defense. "If it was up to you we would still be in the Real World! At least we've made progress!"

"That's enough, you two," Henry said, setting Suzie down on a nearby rock. "I think we could all use a break. We've been walking for a long time." Takato's instincts screamed for them to keep moving, to find Guilmon as soon as possible, but he knew they were tired, and he pushed the instincts aside for the well-being of the group.

"Henry's right," he said. "All this walking is exhausting, and I bet nobody here actually ate something before we left. Let's figure out a plan." With that, he undid the knots that kept his bag tied to him.

He began passing out the bread that his parents helped him pack that morning. After everybody grabbed enough, he himself sat down and chewed on a roll. He tried to, again, find some kind of landmark that could help him pick a direction to go in, but the only thing he saw was sand.

Jeri sat down next to him. He turned and offered her a smile. He was reminded of the time he worked up the nerve to tell her his true feelings, only to find out that he was talking to a D-Reaper Agent instead. He recognized that now was not the time to bring it up though. He did notice that she lacked the usual hand puppet that, admittedly, unnerved Takato a little. She did, however, have her digivice in hand. She clutched it with both hands and stared off at the distance. Takato put a consoling hand on hers.

"What...what's that?" Suzie, who was on top of Henry's shoulders, asked. Takto followed her pointed finger to the horizon. At first, he saw nothing besides sand. Then, the shapes became more obvious.

"Digimon?" Rika said, in surprise. Takato noticed the digimon too. It looked like a herd of Gazimon...and they were running quickly.

"Can they help us find Impmon?" Ai asked. Takato wondered the same, but their running speed worried him. Why were the Gazimon running away so quickly? He saw one of the Gazimon turn into data.

"Run!" Takato screamed. "Get moving. Something is chasing the Gazimon," he explained to the older Tamers. They frantically began packing up as the Gazimon and pursuers approached rapidly.

By the time the herd reached the Tamers, only one of the Gazimon remained. Takato watched in horror as the dead data cells resembling tumbleweed launched itself at the last digimon.

"No!" Rika shouted, and smacked the carnivorous data away using her backpack. Takato only had a few seconds to marvel at her bravery when a data sac attacked her.

"Watch out, chumly!" Kazu exclaimed and pulled her to his side, just in time to avoid her deletion. The two found themselves surrounded, while Henry and Ryo moved the kids away and Takato searched his bag for something, anything, that could help them.

"We need help!" Kenta shouted. His hands came together like he was in prayer, and he began muttering under his breathe, but it was too late; Kazu and Rika had no way out, and Takato couldn't help them. They needed help, and fast.

And then, suddenly..."_Guardian Barrage!_"


End file.
